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Enrolling her daughter in a new school is an education for Violet Everhart: A Greater Cleveland

Updated November 21, 2017 at 11:16 AM;Posted October 5, 2017 at 6:00 AM

Washington Park's staff was supportive and welcoming when Violet Everhart wanted to enroll her daughter there. Some parents find the process of moving their kids' school overwhelming, but it can be easier with support.(Brenda Cain, cleveland.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - It's the second week of the 2017 school year, but 10-year-old Tiffany Everhart is not in class. She is watching cartoons in her Slavic Village home while her mother, Violet, and I sort through a stack of birth certificates, shot records and old report cards.

Violet wants to remove her daughter from the parochial school she has attended since kindergarten. But she finds the task daunting and has asked me to go with her to visit other schools. She tells me she needs someone along who will ask "all the right questions."

I have agreed to tag along and offer support. As a reporter, I have spent many hours talking to Violet for A Greater Cleveland, our series on poverty, and I know she wants the best for her daughter - even if that means putting herself in an uncomfortable situation.

I also know, from talking to social workers, that navigating the bureaucracy of a school is difficult for many parents, but even more so for parents who are less well educated. Violet dropped out of school in 10th grade.

The terminology used by schools is confusing, and can make some parents feel ashamed or threatened because they don't understand, says Zoe Wood, an assistant professor at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, of Case Western Reserve University.

Violet, and her husband, Isaac, had begun looking for a new school over the summer, because Tiffany has been repeatedly bullied at her old school. They tell me the principal has ignored their complaints.

But the couple's efforts stalled when they found other parochial schools in their neighborhood have long waiting lists for the fifth grade. So Tiffany began the school year at her old school with a hopeful attitude. That attitude was short-lived. Tiffany came home crying after the third day of classes.

Today, Violet has chosen to visit a charter school because it is close to home, and a community school in Newburgh Heights because the family attended a free Easter egg hunt there last spring and found the community welcoming.

Our first stop is the neighborhood charter, where the walls are covered with industrial gray paint and children walk silently in a straight line past us as we enter the office. Tiffany looks apprehensive.

After inquiring why we are there, an office worker is brisk and matter-of-fact as she hands Violet a thick packet of forms and rattles off a long list of documents the school requires for enrollment. She tells us to come back on Monday with all forms filled out, and with copies of all the required documents on the list.

The secretary only shrugs when Violet asks how soon her daughter can begin classes.

Our second stop is Washington Park School in Newburgh Heights, a two-mile drive from the Everhart's Slavic Village home. This building is older than the charter school, but the hallways are painted a bright, cheery blue. The assistant staffing the front desk greets each of us with a smile.

Violet tells her she is looking for a new school for her daughter and we are asked to have a seat while she gets the necessary forms. I see the stress wash over Violet's face again.

Faced with a list of documents the school requires, Violet shuts down. Her eyes begin to mist over as she picks up the first form. It is then that she admits to me she doesn't know the meaning of some of the words -- words like "siblings" and "inoculation."

When the assistant asks if we have any questions, Violet turns to me. So, I ask about arts and music programs, extra-curricular offerings, assessments, uniforms and if there is a free or reduced lunch program. I also ask what supplies are needed and is there an after-school care program since Tiffany's mom works until 6 each night. And, knowing how important the issue is to Violet, I ask how the school handles concerns raised by students and parents.

I take notes for Violet to look over later.

Tiffany has started to perk up, and timidly asks a few questions about her prospective new teacher and classmates. To make the girl feel more at ease, the secretary introduces us to the counselor across the hall. She gives all of us - including Tiffany - business cards and encourages us to "reach out at any time you have a question or a concern." Then she takes us to check out Tiffany's prospective new classroom, so she can have a "peek and meet your teacher so not everything will seem so strange tomorrow morning."

As we leave the school, Violet says she has made her choice. She will enroll her daughter at Washington Park.

No need to wonder if Tiffany is happy. She is skipping down the walkway.

***EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been edited to reflect that Washington Park School is a community school and not a part of the Newburgh Heights School District.

A Greater Cleveland is a project of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. See the entirety of our project by clicking here.

A Greater Cleveland is a call to action to the community to help identify and remove the barriers to success faced by Cleveland children in poverty. For those moved to make donations, we ask that you consider a gift to the United Way of Greater Cleveland, which is focusing on issues of multigenerational poverty that this series will examine. Because of the sensitive family matters discussed in this series, we have provided the people we write about anonymity and are using pseudonyms to identify them.